# Blown up on camera **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251 "2001-10-13T14:07:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/1 "2001-10-13T14:07:37Z")
Are any news reporters that ever got in the way of a conflict (or war) while the camera’s were rolling? Patti Ann Browne on Fox news is purty… (I think that’s her name) ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/2 "2001-10-13T14:08:55Z")
Oh… and die- -on camera! She’s still pretty ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/3 "2001-10-13T14:24:30Z")
That’s quite a juxtaposition. Care to explain it, or would that take us into TMI territory? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/4 "2001-10-13T14:28:35Z")
I have a feeling this thread may not be long for this world, but I gotta say I’m a bit curious why you are asking. Er, well, maybe not. I can think of two items off the top of my head; a cameraman who accompanied the ill-fated congressional mission to Guyana to investigate the Jim Jones cult, and who was rolling when the group was attacked by Jones’ followers, and a well-known sequence showing a video cameraman hit in the shoulder by a sniper’s bullet during the fighting in the former Yugoslavia. As for reporters hit while doing a stand-up, can’t think of any. ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/5 "2001-10-13T14:50:14Z")
Can’t answer the question, but thought I’d speak up in **MyFoots** defense - I think he just meant that he would hate to see anything bad happen to her. At least, I _hope_ that’s what he meant! I’ve seen his posts in some other threads and he really didn’t seem to be a ghoul. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/6 "2001-10-13T14:54:57Z")
There’s a WWII photo I’ve run across several times taken at the moment that a bomb hitting the deck of an American carrier in the Pacific explodes; IIRC the photog was killed. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/7 "2001-10-13T14:57:07Z")
Journalists do get killed from being too close to combat, but so far, not on camera. [http://thedagger.com/archive/elsal/](http://thedagger.com/archive/elsal/) > [@](#): > > March 16, 1984-John Hoagland dies at the age of 36 on a day reported as “light combat.” He was 50 yards ahead of other journalists. But nobody happened to be filming, so it’s not on camera. ---
**Author:** ![ignatzmouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b2d939/32.png) [@ignatzmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatzmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/8 "2001-10-13T15:12:09Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s a WWII photo I’ve run across several times taken at the moment that a bomb hitting the deck of an American carrier in the Pacific explodes; IIRC the photog was killed. I recall an exhibition called “Requiem” that displayed pictures taken by photographers killed in Viet-Nam. Some of the pictures were fron the photographer’s final rolls. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/9 "2001-10-13T15:38:21Z")
From this site [http://www.thai4u.com.au/pages/modern\_history\_neil\_davis.html](http://www.thai4u.com.au/pages/modern_history_neil_davis.html) Neil Davis (1934-85) Davis was a photojournalist. He was born in Nala, east of Oatlands in the Tasmanian midlands. From 1964 to 1975 he covered the Vietnam War - one of his most illustrious achievements was to film North Vietnamese tanks crashing through the walls of the presidential palace in Saigon. In 1975 he joined the American NBC and continued his work in south-east Asia, becoming the most respected war photojournalist of his time. In September 1985, while filming an attempted military coup in Bangkok, Thailand, he and William Latch (USA) were shot. Davis continued filming until he lost consciousness - he and Latch both died. I saw the clip once one a program aired in Hong Kong. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/10 "2001-10-13T16:21:23Z")
No picture of him, but [here](http://www.msnbc.com/news/639271.asp) is a story about a photographer who died at the site of the WTC terrorism. His last photo, of the half-collapsed Marriott, is pretty amazing. Poor guy. ---
**Author:** ![ignatzmouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b2d939/32.png) [@ignatzmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignatzmouse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/11 "2001-10-13T16:33:55Z")
I can’t remember if he was a photojournalist or an amateur, but there was that guy who took pictures of Mt. St. Helens exploding. IIRC, he tried to get away, realized that he couldn’t, set up his camera and waited to die. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/12 "2001-10-13T16:56:51Z")
actually, I was just asking it a reporter died in crossfire, and that Patti Ann Brown think was just a general statement. =) ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/13 "2001-10-13T18:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \* > \*\*Are any news reporters that ever got in the way of a conflict (or war) while the camera’s were rolling? > \*\* On Thursday on (I think) MSNBC they cut to a reporter who was laying down flat on a rooftop because although the area he was in was supposed to be safe, there was suddenly extreme gunplay between the Northern Alliance and members of the Taliban. It was extremely nerve-wracking to watch. The poor guy was nearly hyperventilating. It was apparently a pre-recorded piece because the anchor reported that the guy was able to get away in one piece and was ok. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/14 "2001-10-13T19:10:19Z")
\*\* [/QUOTE] On Thursday on (I think) MSNBC they cut to a reporter who was laying down flat on a rooftop because although the area he was in was supposed to be safe, there was suddenly extreme gunplay between the Northern Alliance and members of the Taliban. It was extremely nerve-wracking to watch. The poor guy was nearly hyperventilating. It was apparently a pre-recorded piece because the anchor reported that the guy was able to get away in one piece and was ok. \*\* [/QUOTE] Why would they show that…? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/15 "2001-10-13T19:33:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \* > > * * * On Thursday on (I think) MSNBC they cut to a reporter who was laying down flat on a rooftop because although the area he was in was supposed to be safe, there was suddenly extreme gunplay between the Northern Alliance and members of the Taliban. It was extremely nerve-wracking to watch. The poor guy was nearly hyperventilating. It was apparently a pre-recorded piece because the anchor reported that the guy was able to get away in one piece and was ok. \*\* [/QUOTE] Why would they show that…? \*\* [/QUOTE] Because it’s news? ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/16 "2001-10-13T20:23:44Z")
Was he actually delivering a report? And if so, was the camera also ground level? Was the reporter horizontal on the screen, or was the camera also sideways, resulting in an upright screen image of the reporter? Just curious about the staging/directing aspect of this. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/17 "2001-10-13T21:06:36Z")
Ernie Pyle was a well known, and well respected, Stars and Stripes reporter who covered American involvment in the ETO from (I think) Operation Torch up to the end of the European conflict, and then went to the Pacific where he was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima on April 18, 1945, while serving as a war correspondent with the 77th Infantry Division… not on film though. You can read more about him here… [http://www.indianahistory.org/heritage/pyle.html](http://www.indianahistory.org/heritage/pyle.html) ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/18 "2001-10-13T21:12:19Z")
Ernie Pyle was a well known, and well respected, Stars and Stripes reporter who covered American involvment in the ETO from (I think) Operation Torch up to the end of the European conflict, and then went to the Pacific where he was killed by Japanese machine-gun fire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima on April 18, 1945, while serving as a war correspondent with the 77th Infantry Division… not on film though. You can read more about him here… [http://www.indianahistory.org/heritage/pyle.html](http://www.indianahistory.org/heritage/pyle.html) ---
**Author:** ![coosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@coosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coosa)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/19 "2001-10-13T21:14:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \* > > * * * On Thursday on (I think) MSNBC they cut to a reporter who was laying down flat on a rooftop because although the area he was in was supposed to be safe, there was suddenly extreme gunplay between the Northern Alliance and members of the Taliban. It was extremely nerve-wracking to watch. The poor guy was nearly hyperventilating. It was apparently a pre-recorded piece because the anchor reported that the guy was able to get away in one piece and was ok. \*\* [/QUOTE] Why would they show that…? \*\* [/QUOTE] Lots of reasons, but one good one I can think of is to remind the viewers that people DIE in wars, and not just the 'bad guys," either. ---
**Author:** ![hidon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d78d45/32.png) [@hidon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hidon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251/20 "2001-10-13T21:15:53Z")
Why does this whole thread remind me of the Twilihgt Zone movie incident with the helicopter? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blown-up-on-camera/87251.md?page=2)